As a ruse, Henry agrees to give Alais to Richard and make him heir-apparent. He makes a side deal with Eleanor for her freedom in return for Aquitaine, to be given to John. When the deal is revealed at the wedding, Richard refuses to go through with the ceremony. After Richard leaves, Eleanor masochistically asks Henry to kiss Alais in front of her, and then looks on in horror as they perform a mock marriage ceremony. Having believed Henry's intentions, John, at the direction of middle brother, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, plots with Philip to make war on England. Henry and Phillip meet to discuss terms, but Henry soon learns that Phillip has been plotting with John and Geoffrey, and that he and Richard were once lovers.

Henry dismisses all three sons as unsuitable, and locks them in a wine cellar, telling Alais, "the royal boys are aging with the royal port."[3] He makes plans to travel to Rome for an annulment, so that he can have new sons with Alais, but she says he will never be able to release his sons from prison or they will be a threat to his future children. Henry sees that she is right and condemns them to death, but cannot bring himself to kill them, instead letting them escape. He and Eleanor go back to hoping for the future, with Eleanor going back on the barge to prison, laughing it off with Henry before she leaves.

Historical background

Though the background and the eventual destinies of the characters are historically accurate, The Lion in Winter is fictional; none of the dialogue or action is historical. There was a Christmas court at Caen in 1182 but there was no Christmas court at Chinon in 1183. In reality, Henry had many mistresses and many illegitimate children; the "Rosamund" mentioned in the film was his mistress until she died. The article on the Revolt of 1173–1174 describes the historical events leading to the play's events. As a matter of historical record, Richard the Lionheart succeeded Henry II, and was followed by John. Geoffrey died before his father, victim of a riding accident.

O'Toole, who was 36, portrays Henry II at age 50. He had played the same king as a young man in the film Becket just four years earlier.

The sculpted stone figures appearing during the main title music were a lucky, unexpected find by the director while shooting scenes in France. They were filmed along the artist's driveway and later edited to create the title sequence where they appear to be on interior walls of the castle.[8]

Reception

The film earned an estimated $6.4 million in distributor rentals in the domestic North American market during its initial year of release.[9] It was the 14th most popular movie at the U.S. box office in 1969.[10]The Lion in Winter received a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews.